911 Turbo vs. Ferrari: Pros & Cons

I was considering purchasing either a 911 turbo Carrera or a Ferrari. I'd be interested in any educated opinions from members of SF. I've owned BMWs for the past 10 years but would like something more sporty. I would probably drive the car several days a week.

My concern with the Ferrari is that it does not seem to be a 'daily driver' and I'm not sure that I could purchase a new one since I've not owned one before.

The Porsche forum (rennlist.com) often has threads comparing Porsches and Ferraris, and I'd imagine the Ferrari sites would have info, too. IMO, the 911 is a great daily driver (even in the snow if it's a Turbo, C4, or C4S). They're also very easy to maintain and have serviced without breaking the bank. My understanding is that Ferraris need a bit more TLC.

The Porsche forum (rennlist.com) often has threads comparing Porsches and Ferraris, and I'd imagine the Ferrari sites would have info, too. IMO, the 911 is a great daily driver (even in the snow if it's a Turbo, C4, or C4S). They're also very easy to maintain and have serviced without breaking the bank. My understanding is that Ferraris need a bit more TLC.

Another decent source is www.6speedonline.com, it's a Porsche site, but there's a few people who own both cars, as well as other luxury and sports exotics.

I've always heard Ferrari's are not to be considered as a daily driver, but I remember a person in my parents neighborhood used a F355 as a DD for several years until he traded it in for a Maserati GT.

I was considering purchasing either a 911 turbo Carrera or a Ferrari. I'd be interested in any educated opinions from members of SF. I've owned BMWs for the past 10 years but would like something more sporty. I would probably drive the car several days a week.

My concern with the Ferrari is that it does not seem to be a 'daily driver' and I'm not sure that I could purchase a new one since I've not owned one before.

I appreciate your feedback.

In my limited experience, I've noticed those who are "wealthy wealthy," like say over $10 million, will have a one or more Ferraris for use in an almost daily driver situation, but typically they will have many many cars, much more suited for daily driving, or even have a service to drive them around. Most people I know, who are just "wealthy" with about $5-10 million end up owning a Ferrari, just to say they've owned one, and then getting rid of it after a year or so because it's not a great daily driver due to maintenance issues and cost (the more miles you put on it, the more servicing it will need, and that's uber-costly). I know about several former Ferrari owners who have all switched over to 911s (GT2 or Turbos) because they're a little easier and cheaper to maintain, seem to fit them better as daily drivers, and doesn't stick out as much. Although, keep in mind they all owned Ferraris first. To me, if I had the chance to own either, I'd jump at the Ferrari, new or slightly used, and then dump it after a year to hop into a P-car, just because it'd be nice to have owned and driven a Ferrari at least once in your life.

I was considering purchasing either a 911 turbo Carrera or a Ferrari. I'd be interested in any educated opinions from members of SF. I've owned BMWs for the past 10 years but would like something more sporty. I would probably drive the car several days a week.

My concern with the Ferrari is that it does not seem to be a 'daily driver' and I'm not sure that I could purchase a new one since I've not owned one before.

I appreciate your feedback.

Where do you live? In the Northeast USA, I think the Porsche is better. First, it's AWD, so it's better in weather. Second, to most people, it's just another Porsche - inconspicuousness is a good thing for a daily driver, you aren't driving the car for other people, you are driving it for you.

I think luggage space is about the same in both. Ferrari interior (depending on what model) is much nicer, but the 911 has the benefit of having built in GPS, which is very handy. Having to use the Garmin is tough because there is only one electric plug, and of course you need to plug in your Vanentine 1.

There is no comparison. Lambo just has an Audi interior now. Porsche are fine but just not as luxurious. In the Ferrari, everything is leather. As an option, you can get leather headliner, leather rear shelf, etc. The Porsche does not even have a leather dashboard - it's like this textured plastic stuff. It's certainly not a bad interior, but it's not a Ferrari. The Porsche is also like half the price, so it makes sense.

The dash does it for me (at least on the 996 - I actually haven't sat in a 997).

Sorry, I'm being a bit slow here. Are you saying you don't like the dash? I like their overlapping circles motif for the main dials. The 996 dash stack in the middle does look pretty cheesy in that mid-80s Japanese aftermarket stereo kind of way, but the 997, and more so the 997 refresh coming out look pretty good.

For leather, you can get almost everything (including the dash and even the air vent controls!) covered in leather with a la carte options. When I got my Cayman, they had a full leather package that bundled a whole bunch of things together, but it seems now everything is broken out. That's basically the same as the 997 as they share a lot of interior parts.